


together as they melt

by littlebassoonist



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Canon Universe, F/M, Reylo - Freeform, Waffle House, Waffles in Space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 05:31:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17115350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlebassoonist/pseuds/littlebassoonist
Summary: Even after Snoke's death, the bond between them continues.





	together as they melt

The first time the bond resurfaces, Kylo Ren has already left the First Order. In Hux’s incapable hands, the First Order will be tripping over itself trying to move forward. Kylo knows he can’t just waltz into a Resistance base and expect a warm welcome, so he travels alone. 

Except that he’s not alone. 

He’s hurtling through space when she appears. He has no company besides his ship and an old BB9 unit, so the sound of a human voice shocks him. 

“Ben.”

He jumps, lightsaber at the ready. 

And Force, it’s _her_. 

“Snoke lied,” he says, which should hardly surprise him, but it does. 

“An evil, manipulative old man lying? Color me shocked.”

She doesn’t look shocked. She looks… hopeful. 

“I heard you left the First Order,” she says. “I wasn’t sure I believed it.”

“Believe it.”

Her shade steps closer, passing effortlessly through a box of spare parts. 

“Aren’t you going to ask why?” he adds. 

“I don’t need to,” Rey says, the ghost of a smile on her face. 

She vanishes. 

\---

Leia is the only one who understands what's bothering her. Ever since the news got out that Kylo--Ben--left the First Order, the two of them have been on edge, as though any knock at the compound could be the prodigal son returning. 

Then the bond comes back, and Rey hides from her Resistance cohorts to talk to Ben any chance she can get. She thinks of the fire, of touching hands, of feeling for the first time that she is not alone. And she cannot resist feeling that again. 

Besides, she can’t shake the visions she saw, of Ben Solo standing by her side: in the light. 

But she can’t tell Leia about the bond, and even if she wants to, it’s too late.

“Your mother is dying,” she tells Ben. “A blaster wound gone wrong.”

“Let the past die,” he says again. 

“Leia is your mother, Ben. She loves you.”

“She loves her politics, her precious Rebellion and its watered-down sequel, the Resistance. Her Rebellion led to the bureaucratic nightmare that was the Galactic Senate, which paved the way for the First Order. And if the Resistance continues its course, it’ll do the same thing, and another power will rise. Another Empire or Order will do what the Senate can’t.”

“Then what can we do?”

His face softens, and Rey can see fear in his eyes. “I’m still trying to figure that out.”

She’s trying not to cry at him, at Leia, at this whole mess their galaxy is caught in.

“Rey?” he asks. “Tell her… tell her I’m sorry.”

And she does. The General almost certainly can’t hear it, but she does.

\---

Kylo lives for the moments that their bond connects them. 

He cuts his hair and tries on different names and different planets. He ekes out a living as a mechanic and pilot, never staying one place too long. He breaks bread with beggars and defectors and followers of religions he has never heard of. 

“What does an ex-Supreme Leader do with himself?” Rey asks one evening. “Do you have a job, a hobby, friends?”

“I’m helping fix the droids at a run-down cantina. They’re paying me with food and a place to stay.” 

“That’s good. That’s certainly better than ruling an evil empire.”

“Though a bit less dignified.” He allows himself a sly smile. “I’m thankful you’re not really here--I smell terrible.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” she says, and something inside him flutters. “What are you going to do next?”

He shrugs. “Find another establishment with broken droids. Be a taxi driver. Wander the galaxy as a freelance radar technician. Keep a low profile.”

He wishes so badly that their bond let him know exactly what she was thinking, instead of these vague impression. She’s hopeful, she wants, she wants--

“You could do so much good, Ben Solo.” And she’s gone again.

\---

He doesn’t _plan_ to save a child from an abduction, but he’s glad that he does it. He spent half his life getting into peak physical condition; it’s a blessed relief to use it again. Even without a lightsaber, Kylo is a force to be reckoned with--as the would-be kidnappers soon discover. 

The first thing he does is tell Rey. 

“I’m proud of you,” she says, but her smile doesn’t quite meet her eyes. Is this their bond, or is he getting better at reading her?

“What’s wrong?”

“The First Order declared you dead today. Hux has called off the manhunt and claims his finest officers put blasters in you.”

“The galaxy thinks I’m dead,” he repeats dumbly.

“The galaxy thinks _Kylo Ren_ is dead,” she corrects. “And Finn and Poe and Jess and Rose are--they’re thrilled. And I have to pretend I’m happy, too.”

Something clicks in his brain. “You haven’t told them about our connection?”

She rolls her eyes. “Of course not! Why do you think the Resistance hasn’t tracked you down?”

“I assumed you were merely thinly-staffed and ineffective, which you are.” He winces. “Kriff. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No, you shouldn’t have. But you did. Please keep telling me about how terrible my organization is while failing to offer an alternative.”

“You know that solving a galactic political crisis isn’t that simple.”

“You could at least try, Ben! Instead of galavanting who-knows-where while good people are actually _dying_ to fight Hux.”

“I wish I had an answer. But I don’t. And I shouldn’t be the one to create a solution, because everywhere I’ve ever gone, death follows.”

“Not right now. Today, you saved a child.”

“But I’m not Kylo Ren or Ben Solo or anyone right now. I’m just--”

“Forget it,” she says. The connection severs.

\---

Their bond has been silent for months. 

She finds herself at a caf house, the kinds she frequented when undercover for the Resistance. 

This one is an intergalactic chain known for being cheap and open every hour of the day--no matter how long those days might be on whatever planet. 

“Whatcha hungry for, hun?” the waitress droid asks. 

“Something sweet. Surprise me?” Rey isn’t picky when it comes to food. She loves food, all kinds, because food means not starving in the desert and wondering desperately how she’s meant to scavenge for scraps when she can barely walk from hunger. Finn would tease her about the noises she makes when she eats, how she seems to enjoy every bite as if it’s the last meal she’ll ever eat. 

Rey casts a glance across the bar and sees a large figure three stools down. Something about the hair and the profile is familiar--could it be--

The droid arrives with a plate full of sweet smelling food. It's some kind of lightly fried batter covered with chocolate and nut butter. It's fluffy and crisp and one of the best things Rey has ever eaten. 

“I'll have what she's having,” the man at the bar says. The voice is unmistakable and stirs her belly in a way that has nothing to do with hunger. 

“Kriff!” she says under her breath. But she draws herself together and looks at him, still hunched and clearly nervous. 

“Ben,” she says, their first words in person since Crait. 

“Rey.”

“Sit beside me?”

“I didn't think… I thought my presence would be unwelcome.”

“No. Never unwelcome.”

He moves over two seats, and she slides over one so that they meet in the middle. 

“I left the Resistance,” she says. “A few months ago.”

“I'd ask why, but I think I know.” His voice is as smooth as the chocolate melting on her plate. 

“I really don’t think you do,” she says. 

“Enlighten me.”

“I couldn’t stay in an organization that rejoiced when they heard Ben Solo died. If Leia were still there, they might have been less open about it, but… I hated hearing them talk about you like that.”

Ben’s own plate arrives, and he takes a bite.

“I doubt there is any nutritional value in this at all,” he says, but he keeps eating.

“It’s kriffing delicious, and that’s what matters.”

He smiles, and it lights up his whole face.

“I’ve been thinking about the Order, about the Resistance, about where we go next.”

“And?” she asks.

“And I still don’t have an answer, but I know one thing.” He reaches for her hand that isn’t holding a fork. The contact is electrifying. “I want it to be together.”

“Together,” Rey agrees.

**Author's Note:**

> I know I'm supposed to be working on, like, a dozen fics that aren't Reylo eating waffles, but the heart wants what the heart wants.


End file.
